why serve? THE ORIGINS OF SERVICE DAY

WRITTEN BY PJ RIDDELL DESIGNED BY AMBER SWAISGOOD

At the turn of the century, Messiah officially began the tradition of Service Day - a day off from classes to allow students to take advantage of opportunities to serve in the local community. But with the end of the semester drawing near and final papers and exams looming, it can be easy to simply take the day off to catch up on work or just do nothing.

Caleb Miller, assistant director of the Agape Center, acknowledges that the busyness of college can make taking advantage of Service Day a challenge for those not required to participate.

“I think it's easy for students and employees to kind of get caught up in the responsibilities that require the most of their attention,” Miller said. “In the midst, sometimes service gets lost in the shuffle.”

While one may be tempted to simply take the day off, Miller encourages members of the Messiah community to see the day off as a reminder that Service Day emphasizes accessibility of service opportunities.

“Having a day like service day helps remind and show students that this is something they can really access as a part of this campus,” Miller said. “It's not too hard to get involved directly through Messiah activities or with local organizations in ways that you're passionate about.”

Miller sees Service Day as an opportunity to build on the traditions of service established by Messiah’s founder, S.R. Smith.

“Our founder S.R. Smith had an orphanage that he ran, and that was partnered with the school,” Millers said. “Those components of our faith were never lost on the institution, even from the very beginning and all the way up until now. I think that's really cool.”

What service looks like at Messiah has certainly changed since its founding as a missionary training school. Gina Hale, who took the position of Agape Center coordinator in 2021, was tasked with facing a significant challenge in continuing the tradition of service at Messiah following the pandemic.

“This year, we really wanted to emphasize [Service Day], we wanted to educate people about Service Day because of the several years that it didn't happen, and people didn't experience it as a first year student,” Hale said. “I kind of wanted to do a reboot.”

Prior to the pandemic, first-year students were prompted to participate in service by assisting with hosting the Special Olympics on campus. The past two years following the pandemic, CCC classes have pivoted to participating in Service Day activities benefiting local organization Caitlin’s Smiles.

The organization, founded by Cheryl Hornung, provides bags of crafts, or “bags of smiles,” for kids in local hospitals. Students have had the opportunity to help put those bags together, including making personalized cards for kids in need. Several Messiah students have found this project to be personally impactful because of their own ties to the organization, having benefited from Caitlin’s Smiles themselves.

“Last year, four different students talked to [Cheryl Hornung] after Service Day about how they had gotten a bag of crafts, or someone in their family had,” Hale said. “It was a reality for them that they were touched by the organization; that was a cool thing.”

Beyond required service for CCC classes, Miller has experienced the impacts of service at another project, Love The Hill, that regularly takes place in Allison Hills in Harrisburg.

“Having a group of 20 plus individuals being able to restore dignity to a property, or a place, or someone's home…it’s an opportunity just to see how restoration can work and how it can give back to the people that are actually a part of that community,” Miller said.

The personal connections between students and those that they serve at service sites on and off campus is something that Service Day Assistant Courtney Luckenbill, a senior, appreciates, especially as someone who didn’t experience Service Day as a first year due to the pandemic.

“I think we oftentimes don't realize how much of an impact we're making by doing what to us is a simple task,” Luckenbill said. “But those can have such a big impact…just hearing those stories from others is still impactful.”

Like Luckenbill, a current senior, a large portion of Messiah’s student body - students who were first-years in spring of 2020 or 2021 - never experienced serving alongside their CCC classes. The hope of those at the Agape Center, like Luckenbill, is that if students just take the initiative to join in a service group, a spark to serve beyond just Service Day will ignite.

“Hopefully by giving people that experience, they can see how they were able to impact others…and maybe pursue [serving] more often even when there's no day off,” Luckenbill said.

For those who didn’t get to serve this year, or are looking forward to next year already, Service Day 2024 is set for April 4, 2024.

The Multicultural Council is an organization at Messiah’s that serves as a space for multicultural and international students, celebrates different cultures, and works toward reconciliation.

How Mcc Balances Education With Community

WRITTEN BY AJ JEROME DESIGN BY LILIANA MORA

While MCC is used as a way to connect different students to spaces and people who are similar to them, the council also has the job of educating the student body on cultures they may never have come in contact with before. With two very different purposes, how does MCC make sure that there is a balance kept among the wants and needs of Messiah?

Annabelle Dionisio is a senior English major at Messiah and this year’s Chair of MCC. As the chair of MCC, her job is to make sure that the balance of safe space and education is being met. These two jobs can be tricky to uphold at the same time.

“To best serve the entire campus community we also have to serve as educators and that is very difficult at times because honestly what I want to do most of the time is just relax and have fun and spend time with the other multicultural international students,” Dionisio said.

Yet, the purpose of MCC does not stop at having fun with other multicultural students. Being a minority on a campus that is over 80 percent white can be challenging at times for multicultural students. Even students with good intentions can ask questions that place unneeded stress on minority students.

“It's good to have MCC there, run by multicultural students who opt-in to educate their peers,” Dionisio said. “It is so much better than just having students go up to random multicultural students and ask them questions. I think it's a good way to continue to encourage well-meaning students to learn more but not put that pressure on just an everyday student.”

Ammanuel Tamrat is a senior computer science major who currently holds the position of PR Officer of the African Student Union, which is a subsection of MCC. According to Tamrat, MCC can provide students of color a sanctuary of similar people that can understand them in a way that most places at Messiah cannot.

“As a member of different MCC clubs, I have seen how MCC brings together students with diverse cultures and creates a space where they can feel understood and accepted,” Tamrat said. “MCC allows students to express themselves and talk about their cultures without fear of being judged.”